The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten

[Kaitou Kage]

"Well," Kuzan said in that tone of voice that let you know a tale was coming, "I've yet to see anything as bad as Agni's Breath Stew back home. True story, one day we acolytes decided to play a prank on one of the higher priests by slipping some Agni's Breath into his curry. Agni is the god of fire, so you can guess just how the stew got its name.

"Anyway, we switched his bowl out and went to hide while he ate. Three bites later, his tongue had burned completely black from the heat! It looked like a red pepper that had been left out on the fire too long! Needless to say, we ran away. Fortunately, though, another high-up priest was there to reverse the damage. But I've never seen food do that before!

"We found out later that the Agni's Breath actually ate through the bowl and left pockmarks in the table. We were never caught, thank the gods, but it would've been hell if we were. And to think there are people that can actually eat that stuff."

The priest finished off his tuber and slid his plate back. "Anyway, the moral of that story is, food everywhere outside Sri Raji tastes like paper, and if you think your food's bad, don't try our extra super spicy meals."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"In Sri Raji, food eats you," Charles says, nodding. (He hasn't eaten anything himself.)

"Tomorrow morning, then. The beginning of the end."